July 01, 2006

3/18 Project: Iván Hernández Carrillo (UPDATED)

By the time he was arrested during the "black spring" of March 2003 and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his opposition to the Cuban government, independent journalist Iván Hernández Carrillo, 35, was a familiar figure to the dictatorship.

He was expelled from a computer technology school in the early 1990s because of his oppostion activities, and in 1992 he was sentenced to two years in prison "enemy propaganda and desecrating an image of Fidel Castro," according to Payolibre.

In prison, the Cuban "re-education" system once again failed Hernández, and in 1994, after leaving the gulag, he joined up again with democratic opposition groups, including the Democratic Solidarity Party and the Democracy Party Pedro Luis Boitel. He also was active in the independent labor movement.

In 2002, Hernández began work as a journalist, and also became the director of an independent library — making him a double threat to the Castro regime.

The next year, the regime slammed back, arresting Hernández and more than 70 other journalists, human rights activists, librarians and other dissidents.

The dictatorship saved one of its harshest punishments for Hernández to 25 years in prison.

However, in prison, Hernández has not given up his fight against the Castro regime, joining in hunger strikes and other protests.

Reporters Without Borders has an ongoing petition drive asking Fidel Castro to release independent journalists in prison. You can sign the petition here. (A technical note: Reporters Without Borders is based in Paris, so the confirmation e-mail you will receive after signing the petition will be in French. Just in case you don't read French, the confirmation e-mail asks you click on the link to complete the petition signature process. Castro won't receive your message until you click on the link.)

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is find and read the work of Cuba’s independent journalists. A place to find their articles, in Spanish, English and French, is CubaNet. You can also find their stories at Cuba Verdad.

Comments

By the time he was arrested during the "black spring" of March 2003 and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his opposition to the Cuban government, independent journalist Iván Hernández Carrillo, 35, was a familiar figure to the dictatorship.

He was expelled from a computer technology school in the early 1990s because of his oppostion activities, and in 1992 he was sentenced to two years in prison "enemy propaganda and desecrating an image of Fidel Castro," according to Payolibre.

In prison, the Cuban "re-education" system once again failed Hernández, and in 1994, after leaving the gulag, he joined up again with democratic opposition groups, including the Democratic Solidarity Party and the Democracy Party Pedro Luis Boitel. He also was active in the independent labor movement.

In 2002, Hernández began work as a journalist, and also became the director of an independent library — making him a double threat to the Castro regime.

The next year, the regime slammed back, arresting Hernández and more than 70 other journalists, human rights activists, librarians and other dissidents.

The dictatorship saved one of its harshest punishments for Hernández to 25 years in prison.

However, in prison, Hernández has not given up his fight against the Castro regime, joining in hunger strikes and other protests.

Reporters Without Borders has an ongoing petition drive asking Fidel Castro to release independent journalists in prison. You can sign the petition here. (A technical note: Reporters Without Borders is based in Paris, so the confirmation e-mail you will receive after signing the petition will be in French. Just in case you don't read French, the confirmation e-mail asks you click on the link to complete the petition signature process. Castro won't receive your message until you click on the link.)

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is find and read the work of Cuba’s independent journalists. A place to find their articles, in Spanish, English and French, is CubaNet. You can also find their stories at Cuba Verdad.